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Thursday, March 29, 2012

It's Eric Saade! No, it's Danny Saucedo! No, its TOOJI!

Before I review a song, the first thing that I normally do is go back to the national final and have a look at what I said about it. Just I was reading those I saw all the artists that Norway could have sent. I know Tooji is liked by a good number of fans but sending him to Eurovision was a missed opportunity. In retrospect the song Things Change by Bobby Bare and Petter Oien or else Plumbo would have been the most different choice. I fear that in a stronger year sending Eric Saade Mark II may not have been the best idea but anyhow, that’s what they have given us, now to tear it apart.

The song itself is a strandard Fredrick Kempe style song [even if he didn’t write it] with a strong melody in the background. It does not really build or develop and most of the excitement is hinged on a vocally good bridge in the song. Lyrically it is not overly impressive. Vocally, Tooji has given a variety of vocal performances. They range from fair to very flat. This coupled with the fact he will have live backing vocals at Eurovision may hurt his chances. The performance itself is broadly engaging, focusing on Tooji and his dancing. This may not be the case at Eurovision where the backing vocalists will be singing live and only six people are allowed on stage.

While many fans have been quick to suggest that this is Eric Saade Mark II. I am inclined to agree however that does not mean that he will get the same result as Saade. Generally, for no particular reason songs that are copies of others from last year never do as well the year after. Also the higher standard of other Scandinavian countries will not help Norway, particularly if Sweden goes to the top 3.

Verdict: A missed opportunity for Norway and given that Scandinavia is so this year they may live to regret picking such a generic song. However the strong draw in the semi-finals probably will qualify.